Monday, December 6, 2010

Little Miss Adventurous

Meet Miss Amanda Lynn Williams, a bubbly, fun-loving brunette from Fayetteville, North Carolina. With an introduction like that, it seems she’s as all-American-girl-next-door as it gets, but if you’re expecting a Southern belle who simply can’t live without her Vera Bradley tote and Lilly planner, you’d better look elsewhere. Her self-proclaimed style being defined as “simple with a little edge”, Amanda begs to interrupt the fashion status quo by channeling the personas of style icons Kate Moss, Rachel Bilson and my personal favorite, fashiontoast blogger and model Rumi Neely.

“I've always felt that my ability to express myself through my style has been really stifled.” Unashamed to admit she feels Wake’s fashion scene is “too bland and not adventurous enough”, Amanda, who has lived in some awesome places (Germany-- no big deal), replaces the typical rainbow-splashed wardrobe of pastel-colored polos with dark cotton crop tops, North Face fleeces with fitted schoolboy blazers and classic tall UGG’s with leather harness boots. What’s not to love about a girl who radiates constant Rachel Zoe-esque creativity and a breath of fresh fashion air? Continuously emphasizing the significance of distinguishable simplicity, the below outfit shows a bit more of Amanda’s casual side, but demonstrates her style in that “it’s just simple basics paired with the flannel and boots”.

Amanda salutes brands like Haute Hippie, Free People and Charlotte Ronson, as well as blogs like The Sartorialist and Stockholm Street Style, that best personify as well as inspire her willingness to step ahead of the traditional fashion curve. “In high school, anything too different didn't exactly warrant positive attention from my peers. And then coming to Wake, I quickly realized that I wasn't going to find that fashion freedom that I had hoped I would find in college.” Around her sophomore year, the non-sorority-girl-sorority-girl admirably stopped caring about standing out and her style evolved naturally to its current state.

Capitalizing on the fall and winter seasons to make best use of layering and balance with jackets and other fun pieces, Amanda’s personal style highlights a versatile approach to wearing a wider variety of her wardrobe in the colder months. Besides her favorite spoon ring which she inherited from her mom, she also can’t live without the brown leather purse she purchased in Florence and is very much looking forward to the holidays, meaning a shiny red bow tied around a coveted Jeffrey Campbell shoebox. Why brown lace-up boots? “Why not?” Point taken. So whether she’s assisting me in putting out the grease fire we started in my kitchen on the morning of Senior Fifth or going on adventures for sushi at 10 PM Sunday night, this girl clearly knows how to have a good time and doesn’t mind dressing well while doing it, either.